Students seeks protection for Patan rape victim

Ahmedabad, June 30 (IANS) Activists in the city Monday held demonstrations, demanding protection for a Dalit student of a college in Patan town who had been raped allegedly by six of her teachers for several months. Members of the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) and All India Mahila Sanskritik Sangathan (AIMSS) urged the Gujarat government to give adequate protection to the rape victim and her family members.

“We are also demanding an anti-sexual harassment policy in educational institutions too, similar to the one called for by the Supreme Court of India for women at work places,” Meenakshi Joshi of AIMSS told IANS.

The victim had prepared a suicide note last week, following depression and fearing pressure from powerful elements trying to scuttle the investigations.

“We, on behalf of AIDSO and AIMSS, have sent a memorandum to Gujarat Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma, seeking full protection for the victim,” Joshi said.

Earlier this year, the girl studying at a Primary Teachers Training (PTC) College in Patan, 130 km from here, had alleged that her teachers Manish Parmar, Suresh Patel, Ashwin Parmar, Kiran Patel, Atul Patel and Narendra Patel had raped her on at least 14 occasion in preceding six months.